San Francisco Public Library

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Presentation

Library Commission Meeting

April 1, 2004

Fast Facts about RFID and EMF

• RFID stands for radio frequency identification.
• EMF stands for electromagnetic fields.
• Radio frequency is a type of electromagnetic field made of radio waves.
• Electromagnetic fields are made of electric and magnetic fields.
• Electromagnetic fields are present everywhere on the earth.
• Sources of electromagnetic fields include the sun, thunderstorms, household appliances, cellular phones, and more.
• Electromagnetic fields are defined by their frequency and their wavelength.
• Wavelength refers to the distance between one wave and the next.
• Frequency refers to the number of times the energy vibrates or oscillates.
• The unit of measurement of an electric field is volts per meter (V/m)
• The unit of measurement of a magnetic field is a gauss in the USA and a tesla in Europe.
• The unit of measurement for frequency is a hertz. One hertz is one cycle per second (1 Hz). 1 kHz (kilohertz) is one thousand cycles per second. 1 MHz (megahertz) is one million cycles per second. 1 GHz (gigahertz) is one billion cycles per second.
• Radio frequency constitutes one part of the electromagnetic field range.
• The frequency range of electromagnetic fields runs from 1 Hz-300 GHz).
• The frequency of the RFID tags that SFPL will use is 13.56 MHz.

3/31/04